Labbrand has previously reported about the investments the Chinese government is allocating for the development of national car brands.

Only two weeks ago, China’s Science and Technology Minister Wan Gang has announced that R&D to create Chinese alternative-energy automobiles had been boosted.

Indeed, this week an interesting piece of news appeared on 21st Century Business Herald.

The newspaper cited a senior official of China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (the state regulator of China’s auto industry) stating that Chinese automakers SAIC and Dongfeng might be planning to acquire some assets of the famous, but crisis-plagued, American GM and Chrysler. And this only a few days after the Chinese government gave the green light to its automakers to invest abroad.

Acquisitions of the two well known American brands will fit perfectly into what the government is planning for national brands. In order to increase margins and own competitive advantage, Chinese companies need to build powerful brands. And getting to the know-how, expertise and brand legacy of GM and Chrysler can certainly help Chinese SAIC and Dongfeng do that.

As China’s 21st Century Business Herald reported: “It would be much easier now for strong Chinese automakers to go global by acquiring some assets of their U.S. counterparts in times of crisis” and it would certainly help them walk a fast track road to brand building. Look at what IBM laptop business gave Lenovo in this sense!